An Evening With Lauren Bacall and Sidney Lumet

Reading Sidney Lumet’s book Making Movies is akin to sitting around his living room, listening to the filmmaking master share his tales from a lifetime of making some of this country’s finest movies. This Saturday, movie-goers to Bay Street Theatre’s Picture Show will get the real experience……and then some. Mr. Lumet and the luminous Lauren Bacall (author of her own book By Myself and Then Some) will participate in a talkback hosted by popular theatre and film critic Jeffrey Lyons (and yes, author too), after the screening of Lumet’s classic Murder on the Orient Express.

This evening of great cinema and cinema greats will take place at 8 p.m. at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. Advanced tickets are strongly recommended and can be purchased for $50 by phone at (631) 725-9500 or at www.baystreet.org. Proceeds support the Picture Show at Bay Street, also another portion of the proceeds will go to the National Film Preservation Foundation. As if the film and talkback aren’t exciting enough, a $24.95 three-course pre-fixe dinner is offered at American Hotel. Call (631) 725-3535 for reservations.

“We’re so pleased to have Lauren Bacall and Sidney Lumet join us for this special conversation,” said Gary Hygom, Producer for Bay Street Theatre. He continued to rave about the special night and said,“We are equally excited to have Jeffrey Lyons moderating and becoming part of The Picture Show family. He will host many events in the future.”

Of the evening’s film, Mike DeSanti, Associate Producer for Bay Street comments on Murder on the Orient Express stating, “It’s the ultimate whodunit, with the one of the most legendary casts ever assembled.”

Bacall was part of that star-studded cast which under Lumet’s impeccable direction brought the Agatha Christie thriller to the screen in 1974. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including a win by Ingrid Bergman for Best Supporting Actress, the film features Albert Finney as the detective supported by a cast that includes, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Jaqueline Bisset, and Michael York.

The two film legends will be interviewed by legendary film critic Jeffrey Lyons. Host of the long running PBS series, “Sneak Previews” and currently the film and theatre critic for WNBC, Lyons comes to this evening with great enthusiasm about his guests. In addition to having a vast knowledge of Mr. Lumet’s work, he knows first-hand how the director operates, after having played a cameo role in Lumet’s film Death Trap. Says Lyons reminisced about his experience, “I played myself, unconvincingly.” Nonetheless, 24 years later he is still able to recite his line verbatum, claiming that “you better be ready when Lumet comes to direct.” Still, he added, “he never called me for an encore.”

And while this may be Lyon’s encore with Lumet, it will be his premiere with Bacall. Coming from a family of theatre and film folk, (he is the son of Leonard Lyons, whose Broadway column, The Lyons Den was a New York tradition for 40 years) and having himself interviewed nearly every major film and Broadway star, he admitted, “I’m the only member of my family who has never met Lauren Bacall.” In preparation for the evening, Lyons is “going over everything I have on her, re-reading her books, watching the films.” When asked to give a short sentence on the actress he stated, “No sentence about Lauren Bacall can be short. She is at once enchanting, larger-than-life, a movie icon, intelligent, luminous and charismatic.”

Indeed these accolades ring true for Bacall. From her fabled marriage to Humphrey Bogart and her struggles after his death and the reclamation of herself as a strong, independent and brilliantly talented actress, so interesting is her story that her own autobiographies have been critically acclaimed bestsellers.

Born in New York City, Ms. Bacall studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Originally planning for a stage career, she entered the Hollywood scene when Howard Hawks’ wife spotted her on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, initiating the infamous casting call that landed Bacall the role of Marie Slim Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in Hawk’s To Have And Have Not.

After Bogart’s untimely death in 1957, Ms. Bacall later married (and divorced) Jason Robards. She is the mother of Stephen and Leslie Bogart and Sam Robards. Sam Robards was seen on stage last year at Bay Street Theatre in Japes.

Other career highlights for Ms. Bacall include Tony Awards for the musicals Applause and Woman of the Year. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for The Mirror Has Two Faces, for which she won a Golden Globe. She received Kennedy Center Honors in 1997.

With most of his 44 films shot in New York, Mr. Lumet will no doubt find a theatre full of fans at Bay Street Theatre. In announcing his receipt of an Honorary Academy Award in 2005, he was noted as “one of the most important film directors in the history of American cinema.” Lumet is often called “an actor’s director,” for the superior performances he draws from his cast. According to Lyons, he is one of few film directors who incorporates a long rehearsal process before shooting. His films, which include 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, and of course, Murder on the Orient Express, have received more than 50 Academy Award nominations.

Starting his career as an actor, Lumet made his stage at age four at the Yiddish Art Theater in New York. He played many roles in the 1930s and in 1947, he started an off-Broadway acting troupe that included such future stars as Yul Brenner and Eli Wallach.

In the 1950s he was known as an important TV director notably on the crime series Danger and You Are There.

With such fascinating artists at hand this Saturday, Lyon’s says he is “tempted to talk to both of them about everything they’ve ever done.” But like the movie that precedes the talk, the questions and answers will remain a mystery until then.

– Melissa Berman